Quote:
Originally Posted by nerdboy
I'd be very interested to see how far you can get on the Volt's battery before having to burn dead dinosaurs!
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Thank you Jeff. I haven't bought a Volt yet, but thanks to the courtesy of Mangino Chevrolet [in Amsterdam, NY] I had one to test drive for three days last weekend.
According to General Motors, the Volt's all-electric range with fully charged batteries varies from 25 to 50 miles depending on terrain, driving technique, and temperature. The official EPA rating is 36 miles. I made it 49 miles before the range extending 1.4 L gas engine seamlessly started [at speed you can't even feel it start.]
Here is my report card from the in dash display of the 49 mile drive.
I did not need to use any heating or cooling, hence the 100% Climate setting score. I read somewhere online that the pulse and glide [in neutral] technique works well on most EV's too. So I used that technique. But after the drive I read the in dash tutorial and it says that there is no advantage to doing that with the Volt. There is a very light regen that doesn't slow the car virtually at all that you're missing out on if you coast in neutral. I left some more range on the table as well because I did not realize until after I returned the car that there is a switch that allows you to turn off the daytime running lights. Also the tires were only at 34 psi. So I left a lot of range on the table, but that's part of the learning process.